JP2018077918A - Communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a mobile terminal to readily obtain print data on a web server device and transmit it to an MFP when the mobile terminal is directly connected with the MFP.SOLUTION: A mobile terminal obtains connection information to an MFP from the MFP by using, for example, a method of short-range wireless communication such as NFC. Next, it obtains print data existing on a web server device via a network. Further, it establishes communication with the MFP by using a method of radio communication, for example, WLAN different from the method of short-range wireless communication. It transmits the obtained print data to the MFP. Then, it releases the established communication.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication method, and more particularly to a communication method using short-range wireless communication.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a method of transmitting data existing in a Web server device to the information processing device in order to process data existing in the Web server device that can be browsed on a portable terminal by another information processing device (Patent Document 1) reference). According to Patent Document 1, a mobile terminal authenticates with an information processing apparatus using a communication interface for establishing communication, and then establishes a communication to be originally connected and issues a data request to the information processing apparatus. Then, the Web server device transmits data to the information processing device.

JP 2013-184297 A

  The method described in Patent Literature 1 is based on the premise that the information processing apparatus can communicate with the Web server apparatus via the network. However, the user may use the portable terminal and the information processing apparatus by directly connecting the portable terminal without using an access point outside the information processing apparatus.

  In such a case, the information processing apparatus may not be able to communicate with the Web server apparatus, and thus may not be able to acquire data on the Web server apparatus.

  In this case, the user once disconnects the connection between the portable terminal and the information processing apparatus by a manual operation, and acquires the data stored on the Web server apparatus with the portable terminal. Then, after the data acquisition is completed, it is necessary to connect the portable terminal and the information processing apparatus again by a manual operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication method by which a communication terminal can easily acquire data from a Web server device and transmit the data to an information processing device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the communication method of the present invention has the following configuration.

  That is, a communication method in a communication terminal that communicates with an information processing device, using the first communication method by short-range wireless communication, and connection information for communication by the second communication method with the information processing device A communication step of acquiring data from the information processing device, an acquisition step of acquiring data existing in an external device via a network, and connection information acquired in the communication step after the data is acquired in the acquisition step Using the second communication method to establish communication with the information processing apparatus, and transmitting the data acquired in the acquisition process to the information processing apparatus through the communication established in the establishment process And a transmission step.

  According to the present invention, communication with an information processing apparatus by a predetermined communication method is established after data existing in a Web server apparatus is acquired via a network. Therefore, there is an effect that data can be easily acquired from the Web server device and transmitted to the information processing device.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a network system capable of performing communication by short-range wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of a portable terminal. 1 is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an MFP apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a portable terminal. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an MFP. It is a figure which shows the example which displayed the thumbnail of the printing candidate on the portable terminal. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print data acquisition processing executed by the mobile terminal according to the first embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating print data acquisition processing executed by the mobile terminal according to the third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the relative arrangement and the like of the constituent elements described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those unless otherwise specified.

  In this specification, “recording” (sometimes referred to as “printing”) is not limited to the case of forming significant information such as characters and graphics, but may be significant. Furthermore, it also represents a case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or a medium is processed regardless of whether or not it is manifested so that a human can perceive it visually.

  “Recording medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording apparatuses but also widely to cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, and the like that can accept ink. Shall.

  In this embodiment, in communication between a portable terminal and a multifunction printer (hereinafter referred to as MFP), authentication or the like is performed by low-speed communication (first communication method) using a short-range wireless communication method, and then high-speed wireless communication is performed. Switch to communication (second communication method) and transmit data. Specifically, authentication is performed by NFC (Near Field Communication), and communication is taken over by wireless communication using another communication method.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system (hereinafter referred to as a system) using wireless communication which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

  In this system, a Web server apparatus 101 and a portable communication terminal apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a portable terminal) 200 are connected via a network 100 including an ink tank, a LAN, and the like. On the other hand, a portable terminal 200 and a multifunction printer (hereinafter, MFP) 300 which is an embodiment of an information processing apparatus are directly connected to each other by wireless communication.

  The Web server apparatus 101 includes a storage unit for print data, a Web page management unit for screen display, and the like. Note that the Web server apparatus 101 may be configured by a single server apparatus, or a server system including a plurality of server apparatuses may operate as the Web server apparatus 101 in the present embodiment.

  The mobile terminal 200 is a device that implements at least two types of wireless communication protocols with different authentication methods and communication speeds. The portable terminal may be any device that can handle a file to be subjected to predetermined processing, such as a personal information terminal such as a PDA (information portable terminal), a cellular phone, a digital camera, or a smartphone. In the present embodiment, a portable communication terminal is mainly described as an example, but the communication terminal is not limited to this. The predetermined process is, for example, printing by the MFP 300.

  The MFP 300 includes a display unit and an operation panel that can be set in various ways, and has a printer function that uses an inkjet printer or the like as a printer engine, a scanner function that reads a document by placing the document on a document table, a FAX function, and a telephone function. This is a multi-function printer.

  The network 100 and the Web server apparatus 101 are connected by a wired LAN or a wireless LAN (hereinafter referred to as WLAN). The network 100 and the mobile terminal 200 are connected by a WLAN or a wireless telephone line. The portable terminal 200 and the MFP 300 are connected using an access point function that the MFP 300 has.

  In the following description, the present embodiment will be described using an example in which the MFP 300 prints an image based on received print data.

  When MFP 300 receives a request for acquiring access point function information from portable terminal 200 using NFC, MFP 300 transmits the information to portable terminal 200. The access point function information includes an SSID and a password for connecting to the MFP 300. The portable terminal 200 holds the access point function information received from the MFP 300. When access point function information is requested, MFP 300 enters a standby state for connection to portable terminal 200 using the access point function.

  Thereafter, the portable terminal 200 receives print data from the Web server apparatus 101, and after the reception is completed, the portable terminal 200 connects to the MFP 300 using the access point function of the MFP 300 in a standby state. After the connection is established, the portable terminal 200 transmits print data to the MFP 300 through the established connection, and the MFP 300 prints an image based on the received print data. As described above, since the mobile terminal 200 automatically switches to the connection with the MFP 300 after receiving the print data from the Web server apparatus 101, printing is possible even when the print data is in the Web server apparatus 101.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of a mobile terminal 200 such as a smartphone. A smartphone is a multi-function mobile phone equipped with a camera, network browser, mail function, etc. in addition to the functions of a mobile phone.

  In FIG. 2, the NFC unit 201 is a unit that performs communication using NFC, and communication can be performed by actually bringing the NFC unit 201 close to the counterpart NFC unit within about 10 cm. The WLAN unit 202 is a unit for performing communication using WLAN and is arranged in the apparatus. Note that the WLAN communicable range is wider than the NFC communicable range (about 10 cm), and WLAN communication is possible even when the distance between the communication devices is farther than the NFC communicable distance. The mobile terminal 200 communicates with the MFP 300 via NFC to acquire and save information related to the access point function. Then, after receiving the print data necessary for the printing from the Web server apparatus 101, it communicates with the MFP 300 via the WLAN. Therefore, after the information regarding the access point function by NFC is acquired and stored, communication is possible even if the mobile terminal 200 and the MFP 300 are separated from the NFC communicable distance (about 10 cm).

  The display unit 203 includes an LCD display, and an operation unit 204 having an electrostatic touch panel type operation mechanism is disposed on the display. The operation unit 204 detects user operation information. A typical operation method is that the display unit 203 displays a button-like menu, and when the user touches the operation unit 204, an event associated with the button part is issued and processing is executed. A power key 205 is used to turn on / off the power.

  FIG. 3 is an external view showing a schematic configuration of the MFP 300. 3A is an external perspective view, and FIG. 3B is a top view of the MFP.

  A document table 301 is a glassy transparent table, and is used when a document is placed and read by a scanner. A document cover 302 is a cover for preventing reading light from leaking to the outside when reading by the scanner. A printing paper insertion port 303 is an insertion port for setting paper of various sizes. The sheets set here are conveyed one by one to a printing unit (printer engine), and are printed out from a printing sheet discharge port 304 by performing desired printing.

  An operation display unit 305 and an NFC unit 306 are disposed on the upper portion of the document cover 302 as shown in FIG. The operation display unit 305 includes keys for performing various operations and an LCD display, and is configured to be able to perform operations and settings related to the MFP 300. The NFC unit 306 is a unit for performing short-range wireless communication, and is a place where the mobile terminal 200 is actually brought close to the NFC unit 306. An effective distance of about 10 cm from the NFC unit 306 is a communicable distance. The WLAN antenna 307 is an antenna for performing WLAN communication, and is embedded in the document cover 302. The access point unit 308 is a unit used for the portable terminal 200 to connect to the MFP 300 via the WLAN.

  When the access point 308 operates in the access point (AP) mode, for example, a WLAN connection with the mobile terminal 200 is established on a one-to-one basis, and the mobile terminal 200 may not be able to communicate with other devices. For example, the mobile terminal 200 may transmit data acquired from an external device such as a Web server device, another mobile terminal, or an external PC to the MFP 300 via a WLAN. In this case, if the WLAN connection with the MFP 300 has already been established before the acquisition of the data, it may not be possible to communicate with other devices as described above, and the acquisition may not be performed.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the portable terminal 200 transmits the data to the MFP 300 via the WLAN after acquiring data from the external device, the acquisition is performed while waiting for establishment of a connection with the MFP 300. Details will be described later.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 200.

  The mobile terminal 200 includes a main board 401 that controls the entire apparatus, a WLAN unit 416 that performs WLAN communication, and an NFC unit 417 that performs NFC communication.

  In the main board 401, the CPU 402 is a system control unit that controls the entire mobile terminal 200. The ROM 403 stores a control program executed by the CPU 402, an embedded operating system (OS) program, and the like. In this embodiment, each control program stored in the ROM 403 performs software control such as scheduling and task switching under the management of the embedded OS stored in the ROM 403. The RAM 404 is configured by an SRAM or the like, stores program control variables and the like, stores setting values registered by the user, management data of the portable terminal 200, and the like, and is used as various work buffer areas.

  The image memory 405 includes a DRAM or the like, and temporarily stores image data received via the communication unit and image data read from the data storage unit 412 for processing by the CPU 402. The nonvolatile memory 415 is configured by a flash memory or the like, and stores data to be stored even after the power is turned off. For example, there are phone book data and device information connected in the past. The memory configuration is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. For example, the image memory 405 and the RAM 404 may be shared, or data backup may be performed in the data storage unit 412. In this embodiment, a DRAM is used, but this is not the case because a hard disk, a nonvolatile memory, or the like may be used.

  The data conversion unit 406 performs analysis such as page description language (PDL), and data conversion such as color conversion and image conversion. The telephone unit 407 controls a telephone line and processes voice data input / output via the speaker unit 413, thereby realizing telephone communication. The operation unit 408 controls a signal generated by the operation unit 204 described with reference to FIG. A GPS (Global Positioning System) 409 acquires the current latitude and longitude. The display unit 410 electronically controls the display content of the display unit 203 described with reference to FIG. 2, and can perform various input operations, display the operation status and status status of the MFP 300, and the like.

  The camera unit 411 has a function of electronically recording and encoding an image input via a lens. An image captured by the camera unit 411 is stored in the data storage unit 412. The speaker unit 413 realizes a function for inputting or outputting voice for a telephone function, and other functions such as alarm notification. The power supply unit 414 controls a portable battery and its supply. The power state includes a state where the battery is exhausted, a power-off state where the power key 205 is not pressed, a normal start-up state (power-on state), and a start-up but power-saving mode. There is a power saving state.

  The mobile terminal 200 of this embodiment is equipped with a configuration that executes at least two types of communication methods as communication methods for wireless communication. As a communication method, in this embodiment, the mobile terminal 200 performs data communication with another device such as an MFP by performing wireless communication with WLAN and NFC. At this time, the data is converted into a packet and the packet is transmitted to another device. Conversely, the WLAN unit and NFC unit receive packets from other external devices, convert them into data, and transmit them to the CPU 402. In this embodiment, the NFC sends connection information for handover, sends a job, and exchanges billing information. The WLAN takes over the wireless connection from the NFC by handover and transmits / receives job data at a higher speed than the NFC. The WLAN unit 416 and the NFC unit 417 are each connected by a bus cable or the like. The WLAN unit 416 and the NFC unit 417 are units for realizing communication conforming to the standard.

  The components 403 to 417 are connected to each other via a system bus 419 managed by the CPU 402.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the MFP 300.

  The MFP 300 includes a main board 501 that controls the entire apparatus, a WLAN unit 514 that performs WLAN communication, and an NFC unit 515 that performs NFC communication.

  In the main board 501, a CPU 502 is a system control unit that controls the entire MFP 300. The ROM 503 stores a control program executed by the CPU 502, an embedded operating system (OS) program, and the like. In this embodiment, each control program stored in the ROM 503 performs software control such as scheduling and task switching under the management of the embedded OS stored in the ROM 503. Some control programs perform charging control, and exchange control commands for charging with the mobile terminal 200 using the NFC unit 515.

  The RAM 504 is configured by an SRAM or the like, stores program control variables and the like, stores setting values registered by the user, management data of the MFP 300, and the like, and is also used as various work buffer areas. The nonvolatile memory 505 is configured by a flash memory or the like, and stores data that is to be retained even when the power is turned off. Specifically, network connection information, user data, and the like. The image memory 506 is configured by a DRAM or the like, and stores image data received via each communication unit, image data processed by the data conversion unit 507, and the like. Further, like the memory configuration of the mobile terminal 200, the memory configuration is not limited to this. A data conversion unit 507 performs analysis of a page description language (PDL) or the like, or conversion from image data to print data.

  An image signal generated when the reading unit 510 controlled by the reading control unit 508 optically reads a document with a CIS image sensor receives a binarization process and a halftone process via an image processing control unit (not shown). Various image processing such as these are performed, and high-definition image data is output.

  An operation unit 509 and a display unit 511 represent the operation display unit 305 described with reference to FIG. 3, and include a key for a user to operate and an LCD for display.

  A paper feed unit 512 holds a recording medium such as a recording sheet. The paper feeding operation can be performed by the paper feeding unit 512 under the control of the recording unit 513. In particular, the paper feed unit may be composed of a plurality of paper feed units in order to hold a plurality of types of paper in one apparatus. In this case, the recording unit 513 selects and controls from which paper feed unit the paper is fed.

  The recording unit 513 performs various types of image processing such as smoothing processing, recording density correction processing, and color correction on the image data used for recording via an image processing control unit (not shown), and converts the image data into high-definition image data. Convert and output. In addition, the recording unit 513 periodically reads out information about the printer engine and updates the state information stored in the RAM 504. Specifically, the remaining amount of the ink tank, the state of the recording head, and the like are updated.

  Although two wireless communication methods are installed in the MFP 300 as well as the portable terminal 200, each function is the same as that of the portable terminal 200, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  The components 502 to 515 are connected to each other via a system bus 519 managed by the CPU 502.

  Next, several embodiments of the printing process realized by the network system having the above configuration will be described.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which thumbnails 601 of print candidate images are displayed on the mobile terminal 200.

  A thumbnail 601 is a thumbnail of each image data stored in the Web server apparatus 101. When the user presses an image desired to be printed, a focus 602 is displayed to indicate that the image is a printing target. The user can select a plurality of images to be printed, and at that time, a plurality of focus 602 can exist on the display unit 203.

  The screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed by, for example, a Web browser stored in the ROM 403 of the mobile terminal 200.

  As will be described later with reference to FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the mobile terminal device 200 displays an image selected by the user on the screen of FIG. 6 in accordance with the proximity wireless communication between the mobile terminal 200 and the MFP 300. Get from.

  That is, even if the user touches a thumbnail on the display screen of FIG. 6, no image may be acquired in response to the touch. Further, according to the touch of the thumbnail by the user, for example, a guide display such as “Please move closer to the NFC unit of the MFP” may be displayed on the display unit 410 of the mobile terminal 200.

  In addition, the user does not want to communicate with the MFP 300 using NFC, but may download an image to the mobile terminal 200 and manage the image in the mobile terminal 200, for example. In this case, when the guide display is provided with an option such as “download” and the user selects the option on the screen, the mobile terminal 200 displays the image even if NFC communication is not performed. May be obtained from

  If the thumbnails cannot be displayed on one screen, they may be scrolled. After selecting an image to be printed, the user brings the NFC unit 201 of the portable terminal 200 close to the NFC unit 306 of the MFP 300. As a result, communication between the portable terminal 200 and the MFP 300 is started.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the printing process according to the first embodiment.

  The processing shown in this flowchart is processing by the mobile terminal 200 and is realized by the CPU 402 executing the program stored in the ROM 403 on the RAM 404. Specifically, for example, after the user selects a thumbnail on the screen of FIG. 6 and the above guide display is displayed, the user brings the NFC unit 201 of the portable terminal 200 close to the NFC unit 306 of the MFP 300. Then, after the NFC communication between the mobile terminal 200 and the MFP 300 is started, the process shown in FIG. 7 is executed by the CPU 402 of the mobile terminal 200.

  First, in step S501, the SSID and password of the access point unit 308 built in the MFP 300 are acquired. In the process of step S501, communication between the portable terminal 200 and the MFP 300 is performed using NFC communication.

  After this processing is completed, since the mobile terminal 200 can communicate with the Web server apparatus 101 using the mobile phone line in step S502, print data on the Web server apparatus 101 can be acquired. Further, when the mobile terminal 200 is connected to an access point such as WiFi, for example, the mobile terminal 200 can communicate with the Web server apparatus 101 using the connection and acquire print data on the Web server apparatus 101. be able to. As a result, the communication cost can be reduced as compared with communication using a mobile phone line.

  In step S502, print data corresponding to a thumbnail previously selected by the user on the screen shown in FIG. 6 is acquired.

  If the SSID and password are not acquired in step S501, access to the Web server apparatus 101 for acquiring print data in step S502 may not be performed. Thus, it is possible to prevent the print data Web server apparatus 101 from being accessed even though the print data cannot be transmitted to the MFP via the access point. Alternatively, print data may be acquired from the Web server device 101 when an error is displayed indicating that the access point cannot be connected and the user instructs.

  In step S502, when the communication process via the mobile phone line or the access point is finished, in step S503, the mobile terminal 200 tries to connect to the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 for the first time. In step S503, a connection is established by WLAN using the SSID and password of the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 acquired in step S501.

  That is, in step S503, communication with the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 is started in response to the completion of the communication process in step S502.

  For example, it is assumed that the connection to the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 is established (S503) instead of the above processing order, and then the Web server apparatus 101 is accessed via the access point (S502). In this case, since the connection with the access point of the MFP 300 has already been established, it may not be possible to connect to the Web server apparatus 101 via another access point.

  In this case, there is a case where it is necessary to access the Web server apparatus 101 via a mobile phone line. Alternatively, although the print data has not yet been transmitted to the MFP 300, the connection with the access point of the MFP 300 must be disconnected once by a user operation. Then, it is necessary to connect to another access point for accessing the Web server apparatus 101, acquire print data, and then connect to the access point of the MFP 300 again.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, since the processing is performed in the order of S502 and S503, the mobile terminal 200 can appropriately acquire print data from the Web server apparatus 101 via the access point. Since the portable terminal 200 is connected to the access point of the MFP 300 after acquiring the print data, it is not necessary to disconnect or reconnect to the access point.

  Subsequent processing is performed via a WLAN that can perform higher-speed communication than NFC and can perform communication from outside the NFC effective range. This is effective for transmitting relatively large data such as print data, and it is not necessary to bring the NFC unit 201 of the portable terminal 200 close to the NFC unit 306 of the MFP 300 during print data transmission. It also leads to load reduction.

  In step S503, when communication between the mobile terminal 200 and the MFP 300 via the WLAN is established, the process proceeds to step S504. In step S504, the print data acquired from the web server apparatus 101 in step S502 is transmitted to the MFP 300. Then, MFP 300 prints an image based on the received print data. After the printing is completed, the process proceeds to step S505, and the portable terminal 200 releases the connection of the MFP 300 to the access point unit 308. Thereby, the state in which the portable terminal 200 cannot be connected to the Internet can be reduced as much as possible.

  Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, the MFP communicates with the mobile terminal by NFC communication, acquires print data from the Web server apparatus by communication via a mobile phone line or an access point, and then connects the mobile terminal to the MFP by WLAN. Connect to the access point unit. In this way, even when the MFP is not connected to the network access point, when the user wants to print content on the Web server device, the MFP and the Web server device can directly use the communication function between the mobile terminal and the MFP. Print data can be acquired without connection.

  Furthermore, the portable terminal 200 starts communication with the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 in response to the completion of communication processing with the Web server apparatus 101 via the access point. Therefore, the mobile terminal 200 does not have to disconnect or reconnect the MFP 300 with the access point when acquiring print data from the Web server apparatus 101. Therefore, it is possible to easily connect to the access point.

  In addition, the mobile terminal 200 automatically performs communication with the Web server apparatus 101 and communication with the MFP 300 using a WLAN or the like according to communication with the MFP 300 by NFC. Therefore, since the above three communications are performed when the user brings the mobile terminal 200 close to the MFP 300 for NFC communications, the user can easily print a desired image existing on the Web server apparatus 101.

  Furthermore, if the user selects a thumbnail on the screen shown in FIG. 6, an image corresponding to the thumbnail can be printed by causing the mobile terminal 200 to approach the MFP 300 and performing NFC communication. Therefore, for example, after selecting a thumbnail, NFC communication can be executed without waiting for the print data corresponding to the thumbnail to be acquired by the mobile terminal 200.

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, NFC has been described as an example of short-range wireless communication. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other communication methods may be used. Specifically, Bluetooth (registered trademark) can be used. In this case, the mobile terminal 200 includes a Bluetooth (registered trademark) unit instead of the NFC unit 201, and the MFP 300 also includes a Bluetooth (registered trademark) unit instead of the NFC unit 306. Then, by bringing the Bluetooth (registered trademark) unit of the portable terminal 200 and the Bluetooth (registered trademark) unit of the MFP 300 close to each other, the portable terminal 200 can acquire information on the access point function of the MFP 300.

  In the second embodiment, instead of including the Bluetooth (registered trademark) unit instead of the NFC unit, a configuration including both the NFC unit and the Bluetooth (registered trademark) unit may be employed. In this case, the user can select a unit to be used according to the situation, or can select a unit to be used by either the portable terminal 200 or the MFP 300.

  In addition, as an example of communication when the mobile terminal 200 receives print data from the Web server device 101, communication via a mobile phone line and an access point such as WiFi, for example, has been described as an example. There may be. Furthermore, although the WLAN has been described as an example of the communication method between the portable terminal 200 and the MFP 300 after acquiring the print data, other communication methods may be used. At this time, if the communication method has a wider communicable distance than NFC, communication is possible even when the portable terminal 200 is away from the MFP 300. Further, if the communication method has a higher communication speed than NFC, print data can be transmitted more efficiently. Note that the communication method is not limited to the example described here, and can be used alone or in combination with a plurality of methods.

<Embodiment 3>
In this embodiment, a print data acquisition process in which some determination processes are added to the steps described in FIG. 7 of the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing print data acquisition processing executed by the mobile terminal according to the third embodiment. As can be seen from a comparison between FIG. 8 and FIG. 7, in this embodiment, seven processing steps are added to the processing of the first embodiment so that print data can be acquired more appropriately according to the situation. However, the process to be added is not limited to the example described here, and one determination can be added, or a plurality of determination processes can be added in combination.

  The seven additional processing steps are as follows.

(1) Step S601
It is determined from the information regarding the access point function of the MFP acquired in step S501 whether the MFP has been used before.

(2) Step S602
If it is determined in step S601 that the MFP has not been used, information related to the MFP is stored.

(3) Step S603
It is determined whether the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 is already on standby in a connectable state.

(4) Step S604
If it is determined in step S603 that the MFP 300 is in a connectable state and is not in a standby state, the MFP 300 shifts to a connection standby state.

(5) Step S605
In step S502, it is determined whether the print data received by the portable terminal 200 has already been acquired.

(6) Step S606
After the connection to the access point unit 308 is released in step S505, it is determined whether or not to end the connection standby state in the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300.

(7) Step S607
If it is determined in step S606 that the connection standby state is to be ended, the connection standby state is ended.

  Hereinafter, it will be described in detail along the flowchart of FIG. In order to simplify the description, the same description as that described in the first embodiment is omitted.

  First, after executing step S501 as in the first embodiment, in step S601, the portable terminal 200 checks whether the same information as the information of the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 that has been used before is recorded. If it is determined that the same information is recorded, the recorded information is used, and the process proceeds to step S603. On the other hand, if it is determined that the same information is not recorded or the password is changed, the process proceeds to step S602, and the SSID and password received in step S501 are recorded in the portable terminal 200.

  In step S603, it is checked whether the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 is already in the connection standby state. The connection standby state is a state in which WLAN connection is possible using the SSID and password held by the mobile terminal 200, but connection and communication have not yet been established.

  If it is determined that the MFP 300 is already in the connection standby state in the access point unit 308, the process skips step S604 and proceeds to step S605. On the other hand, if it is determined that the connection standby state is not set, the process advances to step S604 to execute a process for shifting the connection state between the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300 and the portable terminal 200 to the connection standby state.

  The case where the mobile terminal 200 is not in the connection standby state means that the access point connection setting of the mobile terminal 200 is OFF, the mobile terminal 200 is in the connection standby state in another communication mode, or another communication mode. It is possible that the connection is in progress.

  If the access point connection setting is OFF, in step S604, processing for automatically turning on the setting is performed. When the mobile terminal 200 is in a connection standby state or connected in another communication mode, the mobile terminal 200 interrupts the connection standby state or connection, and shifts to a connection standby state with the MFP 300.

  In this embodiment, the portable terminal 200 executes the processes of steps S603 and S604, but the MFP 300 may execute these processes. For example, when the MFP 300 communicates with the mobile terminal 200 via NFC in S501, the processing in S603 may be executed in the MFP. In addition, step S604 may always be executed without executing step S603.

  When the MFP 300 executes the processes of steps S603 and S604, for example, in S603, it is determined whether the access point connection setting of the MFP 300 is OFF. If the access point connection setting is OFF, in step S604, the MFP 300 performs a process of automatically turning on the setting.

  When the MFP 300 executes the process of S603, for example, it is determined whether the MFP 300 is in a connection standby state in another communication mode or is connected in another communication mode. When the MFP 300 is in a connection standby state or connected in another communication mode, the connection standby state and connection are interrupted, and the MFP 300 shifts to a connection standby state with the mobile terminal 200.

  Next, in step S <b> 605, it is checked whether print data to be received from the Web server apparatus 101 already exists in the mobile terminal 200. If it is determined that print data exists in the mobile terminal 200, the process skips step S502 and proceeds to step S503. On the other hand, when it is determined that no print data exists in the mobile terminal 200, the process executes step S502.

  It is possible to omit step S605 and execute step S502, but in this case, even if desired print data exists in the portable terminal 200, the same data is downloaded again. . Therefore, from the viewpoint of preventing duplicate downloads and improving throughput, it is advantageous to execute step S605.

  In steps S503 to S505, the same processing as described in the first embodiment is executed. In the first embodiment, the connection is made using the SSID and password acquired from the MFP 300 in step S501. On the other hand, in this embodiment, if it is determined in step S601 that the information has already been recorded in the portable terminal, connection may be made using the recorded SSID and password.

  In step S606, it is determined whether or not to end the connection standby state of the access point unit 308 of the MFP 300. Specifically, when the MFP 300 is set in the connection standby state to the access point unit 308 in step S604, it is determined that the connection standby state to the access point unit 308 is terminated in order to return to the state before use. In step S603, the MFP 300 determines that the access point unit 308 is already in the connection standby state, and determines that it is not necessary to end the connection standby state of the access point unit 308 when the process in step S604 is skipped.

  If it is determined in step S606 to end the connection standby state of the access point unit 308 based on the determination result as described above, the process proceeds to step S607 to end the connection standby state to the access point unit 308. . On the other hand, when it is determined not to end the connection standby state of the access point unit 308, the processing ends as it is.

  In this embodiment, the portable terminal 200 executes steps S606 and S607, but the MFP 300 may execute them. Further, step S607 may always be executed without executing the determination in step S606, and the standby state for connection to the access point unit 308 may be terminated.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, by executing some determination processing in addition to the first embodiment, print data acquisition processing more suitable for the actual situation can be performed, and the user can select the MFP. Convenience in use can be improved.

  In the embodiment described above, the MFP is described as an example of the information processing apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to the MFP but can be applied to devices such as a single function printer, a display, a projector, and a speaker. For example, when a display or a projector is employed as the information processing apparatus, display target data is acquired from the Web server apparatus to the mobile terminal. When a speaker is adopted as the information processing apparatus, data output by voice from the Web server apparatus is acquired by the mobile terminal.

  For example, when the information processing apparatus is applied to a display, the mobile terminal acquires the SSID and password of the access point unit included in the display using the NFC unit included in the display. Then, the mobile terminal acquires content to be displayed on the display from the Web server device, and after the acquisition is completed, the mobile terminal and the display are connected using the WLAN. Thereafter, the mobile terminal transmits content to be displayed on the display to the display.

  When applied to a speaker, the mobile terminal acquires the SSID and password of the access point unit that the speaker has using the NFC unit that the speaker has. Then, the mobile terminal acquires music data to be reproduced by the speaker from the Web server device, and after the acquisition is completed, the mobile terminal and the speaker are connected using the WLAN. Thereafter, the portable terminal transmits music data to be reproduced by the speaker to the speaker. Thus, even when applied to other devices, the methods shown in the first to third embodiments are applicable.

  The “print data” described in the above embodiment may be, for example, an image file to be printed, a vector data file such as graphic data, or a document file. The file format may be various types such as Jpeg, PDF, Ping, and Gif, or a document file or a spreadsheet file. For example, when data in various data formats is stored in the Web server device 101, the Web server device 101 or another server device may convert the data into a predetermined data format. Then, the converted data may be transmitted to the mobile terminal 200. The predetermined data format may be, for example, a bitmap image or a PDF file.

  In the above embodiments, the Web server device is described as an example of the external device from which the mobile terminal 200 acquires data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and data is acquired from an external device such as another mobile terminal or an external PC. It may be the case.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the access point 308 of the MFP 300 operates in the access point (AP) mode and the WLAN connection with the mobile terminal 200 is established on a one-to-one basis. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the MFP 300 and the mobile terminal 200 may be connected in a one-to-one manner in the ad hoc mode. Even in this case, after the mobile terminal 200 acquires data from an external device such as a Web server device, another mobile terminal, or an external PC, the connection with the MFP 300 is established. As a result, it is possible to avoid a case where data cannot be acquired from an external device because the portable terminal 200 has established a one-to-one connection with the MFP 300.

  The present invention is also achieved by supplying a recording medium recording a program code for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and reading and executing the program code stored in the recording medium by a computer of the system or apparatus. It goes without saying that it is done. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, a DVD, or the like is used. it can.

  The present invention not only realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments by executing the program code read by the computer. In the present invention, an operating system (OS) operating on a computer performs part or all of actual processing based on an instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. Cases are also included.

  Further, the program code for realizing the function of the present embodiment may be executed by one computer (CPU, MPU), or may be executed by a plurality of computers cooperating. Also good. Further, the program code may be executed by a computer, or hardware such as a circuit for realizing the function of the program code may be provided. Alternatively, a part of the program code may be realized by hardware and the remaining part may be executed by a computer.

101: Web server device, 200: Mobile terminal, 201: NFC unit,
300: MFP, 306: NFC unit, 308: Access point unit

Claims (1)

A communication method in a communication terminal that communicates with an information processing device,
A communication step of acquiring connection information for communication by the second communication method with the information processing device from the information processing device using the first communication method by short-range wireless communication;
An acquisition step of acquiring data existing in an external device via a network;
An establishment step of establishing communication with the information processing apparatus by the second communication method using the connection information acquired in the communication step after the data is acquired in the acquisition step;
And a transmission step of transmitting the data acquired in the acquisition step to the information processing apparatus by the communication established in the establishment step.

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